6th OF JUNE 2011: FINAL DINNER at Reino de Aragon restaurant (12.00am) Before finishing the final meeting of the final meeting, I have a few words to say- said Alfredo. the Chiefl Coordinator. I was just thinking… how did everything start?? Whose idea was it? What is the theme, Science… maybe it was Wolfgang’s. Yes… it was… so I called Jose Luis, my colleague in Spain and he said he couldn’t but he put me through to Marga who said “Just two days left to apply for the preparatory meeting?? Ok.. I can make it… Now, here we are … but we didn’t know if it was going to work, not everybody liked the proposals in the beginning but we have done a lot of interesting things that give a quality to the project. And of course, not because the funding is finished we have to finish… who knows… we could go on with the ‘Wine Analysis’. It’s been a pleasure to work with all of you, who have such a good spirit, joy, humour and playfulness constantly. Anyway… the countries had different facilities, educational systems, or pupils,. All of them a challenge to us……. But we wanted to make it simple enough to involve everybody, but of course, it can be very complicates when several countries are ‘in’. Nora: I just want to say that I am impressed with such a perfect planning, here in Spain….. I have really enjoyed eery little minute....thanks to the coordinator Marga. Roberto: People is the most important thing is these kind of Comenius, sharing educational experiences, interacting to share really good moments on the web, in your countries, in your school, at houses when you were making tests, transmitting the students our motivation and our enthusiasm. Lina:Thanks for helping me connect with such people and I hope we can keep in contact in the near future. It has been fantastic for my improvingmy level of English.. now I can talk apart from smiling.... and I really appreciate your patience with me when I couldn't say two words together..... Thanks. Torvald: It’s been perfect to help student get in touch. I have enjoyed talking to the Spanish students today. They found it very interesting when I told them that in Norway, the students don’t have to memorize like they do in Spain… but then, that were just like Norwegian students. And when I went to Austria… I was shocked to see that 120 teachers can cope with just 3 tables… but not any better Spain where it is similar… just about 4 tables… but in this case, Marga using 70% of them. But students are lovely and finding out about student’s life was good. And in the third place, I have enjoyed also Nature, messing around, finding new plants, and insects, and birds, and butterflies, and flowers, and stones….but some of them were the same due to our mild climate in Sandnes. Rosaluz: I want to thank LIna for taking me there, and the rest for being like you are. Nora, we have been learning a lot from each other… we were even ready to inter exchange posts. Because , I won’t be here next year probably, and I don’t really know where I will be, but I hope that they are into another project so that I can go on working in Comenius in the future. Jurenn: This morning classrooms were an excellent place to meet the kids, who were not kids any more, but grown-ups-. There are similarities and differences of course, as there are in adults. Ok, I hope have been of some help and it was nice to be part of the C. project althouht I started very late. Begoña: I was very happy because this project was very good for me a Science teacher. It was very positive for me to meet different teachers and different educational systems (in Austria pupils have to take decisions when they are 12. Ok, we have different methods but we can always learn from others and try to improve. Also for pupils it is good as they can get to know other students from other countries. Secondly, it was very interesting for me, because I had to coordinate with other teachers, out of our school…. Like you. Sometimes, we had to make important decisions and come to agreements… which is complicated… not everything was a rose-bed….and I was a bit afraid because my first experience in a Comenius had not been positive as there was no motivation. But, anyway, this time has been great and I would recommend it to other teachers. Grete:I saw many differences and many similarities too along the project and it helped me to find out that we all have students to teach … we are in the same boat… but the boat in Norway was bigger so I can imagine what they thought when they arrived at school in Austria. Also, English was an obstacle for me but I wanted to try. Now I am happy and I want to say thank you to all of you for helping me so much. And there was a question in the evaluation task: What would you say to any other person who would want to participate? And then, I thought of you. I would say: ‘Go for it, and you will meet great people like the ones I have met’. Wolfgang (Wolfy): I am not going to talk about teachers and I am giving up being a teacher next year but let’s do it the Monty Piton style “ Don’t take it too seriously when I am using black humour’. Now, I can remember a theatre piece where there was a woman dying and she wanted to hear something sweet before dying. So, the husband after thinking for some seconds answered: Honey. So, it is always good to value little details. Jasmine: I took part in the project quite late although I already knew Alfred. I am very happy to be here… but yesterday, suddenly, I found out that I was just a ‘mobility’ so I was shocked: nobody had ever called me a ‘mobility’. But it was nice meeting all of you. We have so many ideas for the future already… we have just opened a wiki for the 3 of us, English teachers, Alfred, Marga and me… where all our students will be able to log on some writings about the different topics. And we are very motivated… so that’s what we must transmit our students, our own motivation. They should help them to become open-minded.. we should make them understand how good it is to work on a Comenius. Marga: I talk very quickly but I would like to say so many things that it is impossible to say them in 5 minutes. To start with, I will say that it is incredibly interesting to work in a Comenius Project… but especially in this Comenius project because ‘you’, ‘we’ are an excellent group of people who get on well and have jumped the work barrier onto the friendship barrier. What shall we do next year?? The Wine Analysis? We have done so many things together… we have learned so much…. That we now understand it is very important to motivate the teachers because without them, there wouldn’t be any project. So, it was very difficult to plan something motivating, something new, something that we had not done before, something to surprise you… so I said… ok, let’s do 10 km rowing and chatting… then, I said, we have had lovely meals abroad,,,,, but what about trying the cooking school? And maybe the bearded vultures? And we went to visit Sierra de Guara where there is a place to feed them. And It was absolutely amazing……to see how sociable they are….. and how many of them come down together…. Then, we went to a castle, to a village, to the other side of the dump, to Begoña’s place, etc… I think, everything went according to the plan… and we don’t want to say ‘bye’ so we will say ‘see you’ and Wolfang won’t be able to get rid of us … not even taking retirement… he can be a ‘Comenius Pensioner’. ……………but Alfred was still going on….: “If you grow, you can harvest” and when you are into one of these Comenius, you connect with each other to get that International dimension that it is needed to feel that we are all in the same boat. Travelling is learning a lot, about culture, about people, about education, about students, about differences and similarities, which is indescribable. And if we feel ‘we are together’… then, you will feel you can ask for help whenever you have a problem….. However, English is not a problem…. But just a vehicle to communicate, so we don’t have to be perfect............ just try !!! Anyway, Marga** interrupted him, as usual, with some of her ideas: Why don't we play a game and try to describe the participants after 2 years together..... and Then, Nora helped, as she is number 1 at playing with words and vocabulary.... and stated describing all of us: Let's see.... -She said- Roberto is 'everfriend', funny and the best guide in a museum. .......Lina is a clever lady, cute and friendly..Torvald is my best friend.... if I ever need to marry again... I will call him................ Rosa is new this year, she is helful, funny, interesting and a good listener. I am thinking of exchanging my post with her as she teachers Art, like me. .........Wolfang is funny and has a particular sense of humour,......... Jasmine is new too. but we soon have realized that she is the perfect partner to work in a group. .......Juren is new too, she is a good instructor, a good musician, and so nice to be with... she never complains...... Begoña is so kind...that she even offered her whole house to us today, with a barbecue........... Grette is interested in every detail of the environment.... every word is an interest for her if it concerns nature... she knows all the flower names.....Marga is..... Marga is energetic, encoutaging, enthusiastic, very good at planning and keeping everybody together on the same boat.....Ah... Wolfgang talkes to me in a working class Swedish language that describes the whole thing. Alfred is .... like a coup for me.... I have been with him for such a long time .... that I can be angry with him and pleased again in a short time because i just can do without him.... and Nora... that's me.... what can you say about me??? Nora is perfect -said Marga- I can't think of any negative detail in her way of doing things... she is always thinking about how to please the rest, knitting lovely things for them and giving them as little gifts. "I copied the idea from her and I gave evwerybody a little gift just for the sake of watching their faces in surprise...." "We all enjoyed a lot at this last dinner.... although we knew it was going to be the end... or the beginning of a never ending friendship.... as we will never forget this unique experience".Marga
Before finishing the final meeting of the final meeting, I have a few words to say- said Alfredo. the Chiefl Coordinator.
I was just thinking… how did everything start?? Whose idea was it? What is the theme, Science… maybe it was Wolfgang’s. Yes… it was… so I called Jose Luis, my colleague in Spain and he said he couldn’t but he put me through to Marga who said “Just two days left to apply for the preparatory meeting?? Ok.. I can make it… Now, here we are … but we didn’t know if it was going to work, not everybody liked the proposals in the beginning but we have done a lot of interesting things that give a quality to the project. And of course, not because the funding is finished we have to finish… who knows… we could go on with the ‘Wine Analysis’. It’s been a pleasure to work with all of you, who have such a good spirit, joy, humour and playfulness constantly. Anyway… the countries had different facilities, educational systems, or pupils,. All of them a challenge to us……. But we wanted to make it simple enough to involve everybody, but of course, it can be very complicates when several countries are ‘in’.
Nora: I just want to say that I am impressed with such a perfect planning, here in Spain….. I have really enjoyed eery little minute....thanks to the coordinator Marga.
Roberto: People is the most important thing is these kind of Comenius, sharing educational experiences, interacting to share really good moments on the web, in your countries, in your school, at houses when you were making tests, transmitting the students our motivation and our enthusiasm.
Lina:Thanks for helping me connect with such people and I hope we can keep in contact in the near future. It has been fantastic for my improvingmy level of English.. now I can talk apart from smiling.... and I really appreciate your patience with me when I couldn't say two words together..... Thanks.
Torvald: It’s been perfect to help student get in touch. I have enjoyed talking to the Spanish students today. They found it very interesting when I told them that in Norway, the students don’t have to memorize like they do in Spain… but then, that were just like Norwegian students. And when I went to Austria… I was shocked to see that 120 teachers can cope with just 3 tables… but not any better Spain where it is similar… just about 4 tables… but in this case, Marga using 70% of them. But students are lovely and finding out about student’s life was good. And in the third place, I have enjoyed also Nature, messing around, finding new plants, and insects, and birds, and butterflies, and flowers, and stones….but some of them were the same due to our mild climate in Sandnes.
Rosaluz: I want to thank LIna for taking me there, and the rest for being like you are. Nora, we have been learning a lot from each other… we were even ready to inter exchange posts. Because , I won’t be here next year probably, and I don’t really know where I will be, but I hope that they are into another project so that I can go on working in Comenius in the future.
Jurenn: This morning classrooms were an excellent place to meet the kids, who were not kids any more, but grown-ups-. There are similarities and differences of course, as there are in adults. Ok, I hope have been of some help and it was nice to be part of the C. project althouht I started very late.
Begoña: I was very happy because this project was very good for me a Science teacher. It was very positive for me to meet different teachers and different educational systems (in Austria pupils have to take decisions when they are 12. Ok, we have different methods but we can always learn from others and try to improve. Also for pupils it is good as they can get to know other students from other countries. Secondly, it was very interesting for me, because I had to coordinate with other teachers, out of our school…. Like you. Sometimes, we had to make important decisions and come to agreements… which is complicated… not everything was a rose-bed….and I was a bit afraid because my first experience in a Comenius had not been positive as there was no motivation. But, anyway, this time has been great and I would recommend it to other teachers.
Grete:I saw many differences and many similarities too along the project and it helped me to find out that we all have students to teach … we are in the same boat… but the boat in Norway was bigger so I can imagine what they thought when they arrived at school in Austria. Also, English was an obstacle for me but I wanted to try. Now I am happy and I want to say thank you to all of you for helping me so much. And there was a question in the evaluation task: What would you say to any other person who would want to participate? And then, I thought of you. I would say: ‘Go for it, and you will meet great people like the ones I have met’.
Wolfgang (Wolfy): I am not going to talk about teachers and I am giving up being a teacher next year but let’s do it the Monty Piton style “ Don’t take it too seriously when I am using black humour’. Now, I can remember a theatre piece where there was a woman dying and she wanted to hear something sweet before dying. So, the husband after thinking for some seconds answered: Honey. So, it is always good to value little details.
Jasmine: I took part in the project quite late although I already knew Alfred. I am very happy to be here… but yesterday, suddenly, I found out that I was just a ‘mobility’ so I was shocked: nobody had ever called me a ‘mobility’. But it was nice meeting all of you. We have so many ideas for the future already… we have just opened a wiki for the 3 of us, English teachers, Alfred, Marga and me… where all our students will be able to log on some writings about the different topics. And we are very motivated… so that’s what we must transmit our students, our own motivation. They should help them to become open-minded.. we should make them understand how good it is to work on a Comenius.
Marga: I talk very quickly but I would like to say so many things that it is impossible to say them in 5 minutes. To start with, I will say that it is incredibly interesting to work in a Comenius Project… but especially in this Comenius project because ‘you’, ‘we’ are an excellent group of people who get on well and have jumped the work barrier onto the friendship barrier. What shall we do next year?? The Wine Analysis? We have done so many things together… we have learned so much…. That we now understand it is very important to motivate the teachers because without them, there wouldn’t be any project. So, it was very difficult to plan something motivating, something new, something that we had not done before, something to surprise you… so I said… ok, let’s do 10 km rowing and chatting… then, I said, we have had lovely meals abroad,,,,, but what about trying the cooking school? And maybe the bearded vultures? And we went to visit Sierra de Guara where there is a place to feed them. And It was absolutely amazing……to see how sociable they are….. and how many of them come down together…. Then, we went to a castle, to a village, to the other side of the dump, to Begoña’s place, etc… I think, everything went according to the plan… and we don’t want to say ‘bye’ so we will say ‘see you’ and Wolfang won’t be able to get rid of us … not even taking retirement… he can be a ‘Comenius Pensioner’.
……………but Alfred was still going on….: “If you grow, you can harvest” and when you are into one of these Comenius, you connect with each other to get that International dimension that it is needed to feel that we are all in the same boat. Travelling is learning a lot, about culture, about people, about education, about students, about differences and similarities, which is indescribable. And if we feel ‘we are together’… then, you will feel you can ask for help whenever you have a problem…..
However, English is not a problem…. But just a vehicle to communicate, so we don’t have to be perfect............ just try !!!
Anyway, Marga** interrupted him, as usual, with some of her ideas: Why don't we play a game and try to describe the participants after 2 years together..... and Then, Nora helped, as she is number 1 at playing with words and vocabulary.... and stated describing all of us:
Let's see.... -She said- Roberto is 'everfriend', funny and the best guide in a museum. .......Lina is a clever lady, cute and friendly..Torvald is my best friend.... if I ever need to marry again... I will call him................ Rosa is new this year, she is helful, funny, interesting and a good listener. I am thinking of exchanging my post with her as she teachers Art, like me. .........Wolfang is funny and has a particular sense of humour,......... Jasmine is new too. but we soon have realized that she is the perfect partner to work in a group. .......Juren is new too, she is a good instructor, a good musician, and so nice to be with... she never complains...... Begoña is so kind...that she even offered her whole house to us today, with a barbecue........... Grette is interested in every detail of the environment.... every word is an interest for her if it concerns nature... she knows all the flower names.....Marga is..... Marga is energetic, encoutaging, enthusiastic, very good at planning and keeping everybody together on the same boat.....Ah... Wolfgang talkes to me in a working class Swedish language that describes the whole thing. Alfred is .... like a coup for me.... I have been with him for such a long time .... that I can be angry with him and pleased again in a short time because i just can do without him.... and Nora... that's me.... what can you say about me???
Nora is perfect -said Marga- I can't think of any negative detail in her way of doing things... she is always thinking about how to please the rest, knitting lovely things for them and giving them as little gifts. "I copied the idea from her and I gave evwerybody a little gift just for the sake of watching their faces in surprise...."
"We all enjoyed a lot at this last dinner.... although we knew it was going to be the end... or the beginning of a never ending friendship.... as we will never forget this unique experience".Marga